I personally have mixed feelings about this - the fact that OBS has openSUSE in its name helps to get the openSUSE name 'out there' as its use becomes more popular, but I agree that there is a strong implication for users that it is only for openSUSE. The other reasons raised by Gumb are also valid ones.
So a change to just 'open' could be positive in many ways. I'm still relatively new to the project myself, so I don't know the whole story - I imagine this was probably discussed at length when the Build Service first became an entity. On a related note, I was under the impression that Bretzn was being renamed to 'AppInstaller' though perhaps I've got the "wrong end of the stick" as the saying goes. Because we are going to be doing a lot of work in the coming months to promote both the OBS and Bretzn, it might be a good idea to clarify naming right away, and also perhaps talk about branding and logos for both of these projects. Is there anything in progress towards developing artwork? Again, apologies if this is old territory being covered again! cheers, Helen On Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at 10:44 AM, gumb <g...@linuxmail.org> wrote: > Hi. I am forwarding a proposal for the renaming of the openSUSE Build > Service, in order to try and increase its adoption and recognition. Indeed, > it seems like certain moves may already have been made in this direction but > I'm not too clear on that (see below). This is a follow-up to a suggestion > by Jos Poortvliet which he originally made mention of in a recent blog post, > here: > http://nowwhatthe.blogspot.com/2011/01/lca-on-friday.html > > Whilst I am merely an end-user, he has suggested in the spirit of openness > that I contact the project via this list to further the discussion. > Essentially, such a renaming could be as 'simple' as calling it the 'Open > Build Service', and I note that the Meego project, for example, already > seems to use this on some of its webpages, but the main OBS introduction > page does not, hence my uncertainty. The reasoning behind this subtle change > is that the project has perhaps not gained the traction that it should have > done in the wider open source and distro community in consideration of what > an advanced and useful tool it is. I see there being two key contributory > factors behind this: > > 1) The very name openSUSE Build Service immediately implies something > related and perhaps specific to the openSUSE distribution. Many developers / > packagers are simply unaware of its scope. > > 2) There are those for whom anything associated with the name openSUSE makes > them run a mile. Rightfully or wrongfully, all the previous Novell / MS > associations forever tarnish the image of openSUSE for some. The OBS is > unfairly tarred with the same brush, and no matter how good a service it > becomes, this perception is unlikely to change for a long time to come. > > Of course, general marketing and other factors may also play a part, but I > don't think the above two reasons should be easily discounted. Several times > I have read conversations involving developers / packagers who are > struggling to make packages available for a variety of distros, and when OBS > is raised as a potential solution the thread often falls flat or it is > dismissed, sometimes for some technical reason or sometimes for no good > reason. > > To appease the latter category of OBS avoiders, the openSUSE branding could > perhaps take a back seat and not be so obviously featured. Let the service > speak for itself. The website would need some rewording and perhaps more > generic theming or image elements to reduce all the immediate references to > openSUSE. I'm basing this broadly on the concept that subtle or subconscious > persuasion can often triumph over blatant advertising, but I'm no marketing > expert! > > Having openSUSE in the title should bring some prestige and publicity to the > openSUSE project, but it probably has just as much adverse effect. Far > better to attract more people to the service in the first instance, and upon > discovering its qualities a certain kudos might then be attributed before > the user needs to discover who's behind it. > > The rewards and prestige would eventually come from the project generating > many times as much usage and therefore media recognition, instead of > shouting about itself and falling upon deaf ears, and ultimately occupying a > niche. > > Not meaning to take anything away from the efforts so far. Having Meego and > others on board is a great achievement, but I think the points in Jos's post > are an indicator of the widespread ignorance that may be holding it back > from reaching out further. > -- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-buildservice+unsubscr...@opensuse.org > For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-buildservice+h...@opensuse.org > > -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-marketing+unsubscr...@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-marketing+h...@opensuse.org
